Boating fleets empower Entergy crews to restore coastal communities

Insights > Boating fleets empower Entergy crews to restore coastal communities

Boating fleets empower Entergy crews to restore coastal communities

09/14/2024

Hurricane Francine made landfall in Terrebonne Parish as a Category 2 hurricane on Sept. 11, bringing up to 100 mph winds to the Louisiana coast. The hardest-hit areas in southeast Louisiana present difficult geographic challenges for restoration workers that require unique solutions to turn the lights back on.

Entergy crews, contractors and mutual-aid workers are using every available tool to make repairs in and around marshes, rivers and other hard-to-reach locations. In Terrebonne Parish, a specialized fleet of boats and storm response workers are navigating varying depths of waterways to reconstruct our electrical distribution system:

• Five large air boats rigged with cranes and buckets allow crews to gain access to utility poles in marshes and swamps. An additional large airboat supports the transportation of poles and repair equipment.
• Four marsh buggies capable of traversing land and water assist with the transportation of personnel and materials within marsh work zones.
• 12 small, single-engine boats are used to transport scouts to assist with damage assessments and work support.
• Flatbed pontoon marsh buggies carry materials like poles and wires to our restoration crews working in the water.
• Flex-track bucket trucks traverse agricultural fields to allow crews access to utility poles in muddy farmland.

Track, marsh and boating equipment have been utilized in Thibodaux, Gibson, Donaldsonville, Pierre Part and St. James throughout the Hurricane Francine restoration. Airboats have also been critical to restoration work in Luling, allowing crews to continue bringing service back to our communities despite areas of high water due to flooding.

In some cases, muddy terrain in tight spaces require lineworkers wearing special boots to climb utility poles without the assistance of machinery at all. Crews use safety ropes to secure climbers, who perform repairs up to 35 feet in the air.

Our teams prepare year-round to ensure we can access and repair even the most hard-to-reach residential areas along the Gulf Coast. As we continue to restore your communities, access the latest information by visiting our Storm Center, a one-stop website for information on storm safety, preparation, restoration and regular updates specific to the storm. You can also access the View Outages map from here.